Local Scholarship Deadline Reminder

Do you have a lot of homework after your first day back? For the current seniors, even if you don't have official homework, my recommendation is to spend time finishing up your applications for the local scholarships.

Deadline for the local scholarships is the end of the school day on Wednesday, April 13th. Be sure to review your applications and verify that you have all of the required pieces ready to be turned in by Wednesday. Hopefully if you needed recommendation letters for your applications you have already requested those as it will be difficult (if not impossible) for teachers to write letters in one night for you.

4th Quarter Begins

Well, spring break is officially over and tomorrow starts the 4th quarter. I hope you had a wonderful and relaxing break. I am looking forward to seeing you and hearing about your time off so please stop by and update me!

As you start the 4th and final quarter of the year, I wanted to remind you of the opportunity to use this fresh quarter as the chance to start fresh in your classes.

Some strategies for starting fresh:

- Organize your backpack

- Write down every assignment

- Show up to class every day and be on time

- Do your homework on time and bring it to class with you

- Improve your reading habits

- Establish or recommit yourself to a study plan (this is beyond just doing your homework!)

Enjoy your final day of sleeping in for tomorrow's late start day. (Yes, I am jealous! Getting up early again is the only thing I am not looking forward to with going back to school.)

Comparing Financial Aid Offers

Now that all of your college admissions decisions have been received, many families are starting the process of comparing their financial aid letters. I know that it can be a bit confusing and sometimes daunting because of the various terminology. FastWeb has a great resource guide to help students and families evaluate and compare their financial aid letters. The final three pages of the guide are are glossary of terms in case you are struggling to figure out what everything in your financial aid offers mean. If you are interested in learning more about comparing the generosity of various colleges, you might enjoy these two articles: How to Measure a College's Generosity and College Navigator: Checking a college's generosity

SAT Registration Reminder

Just a quick reminder that if you had planned on signing up for the May 7th SAT, the registration deadline is tomorrow (Friday, April 8th). You can sign up to take the test on the SAT website. If testing on May 7th doesn't work for you (it is the morning of prom), you will have another opportunity this spring for the SAT (June 4th) which also happens to be the morning of graduation and the weekend before exams.

Good luck to all of you who will be taking the ACT this weekend! There is also 1 remaining spring ACT test date (June 11th) which is the 1st weekend of your summer break and a few days after you finish exams.

Columbus State/ OSU Partnership

Each year the number of students who graduate from WKHS and proceed to take classes at Columbus State Community College grows. Today the Columbus Dispatch ran an article highlighting a new partnership between OSU and Columbus State which, for students who apply and participate, will guarantee that they can complete their 4-year degree at OSU. Don't misunderstand, students have always had the option of transferring to OSU and the CSCC website lists courses and how they match up, but much of the work was placed on the students to figure out which classes would meet which needs and researching the requirements at both schools. Now, both schools will have advisors to work with the students who are in the program to assist them in making this transfer. If you have considered starting at CSCC and completing your degree at OSU, you will definitely want to read this article.

Massive List of Links

Are you bored? I don't think any of us are very likely to admit to being bored because we are probably all happy to have a little less to do every minute of every day or at least enjoying the opportunity to sleep in each day, but the reality is that about this time in break boredom can start to kick in. In case you are feeling bored, I am updating with a massive list of links to stories that might interest you. I tried to make sure that I found a range of articles so there would be something to apply to students in every grade.

What to do when a college says ‘no’

Secrets to winning a college scholarship

7 tips to get the most out of college tours

Can Facebook hurt my admission chances?

What’s your teenager doing this summer?

Tongue-tied college students (This applies to high school students too!)

Parents too impatient in college search

March ‘College Admissions’ Madness Redux

How to choose a major

The optional interview

10 Tips for Multiple Choice Questions

Study Habit Inventory

Preview and Predict with Subtitles

Are my SAT Scores Good Enough?

If rejected from a college can you appeal?(The short answer to this question is no!)

Think like a college

Why is it important to volunteer?

The Truth about Wait Lists

Online aid for making ‘the decision’ from a college freshman

Advice on ‘the decision’ from the Today show

Multiple Acceptances: How to deal with a win-win situation

Standardized Testing Preparation

50 Best Study Aid Blogs

How Colleges Look at Volunteering

How to write wait-list update letters

What is a gap year and should I consider taking one?

A college’s prestige: Is it worth it?

How to avoid college scholarship and aid scams

Low SAT Scores? What now?

An Insider’s View of the College Admissions Process

Snapshot of One college’s admission process

50 Best Learning Disability Blogs

New Kent State Awards to help defray tuition costs

Should you run for office?

Group Study Ideas

10 Questions to Ask Before Picking a Major

College admissions strategies: Don’t listen to friends and more

Campus visiting season begins at spring break

For seniors, March is most anxious month

How to realistically focus your college search (or don’t watch Grey’s Anatomy and go pre-med)

Seniors to parents: let kids pick their own colleges

Colleges admit freshman for winter term

Deciding on Location and distance from home when applying to college

How to Decide on a College

Accepted, Wait Listed, or Denied – Some helpful articles

Students with Learning Differences: Getting Started with the College Search

The Decision is Here - Now what?

Learning Disabilities and level of services

15 Ways to Boost your confidence at College

Quick Check In

Hello! I hope you are enjoying your spring break. Hard to believe we are nearing the half-way point already. As you might be watching the national championship basketball game tonight, I thought I would pass along this unique way of looking at the two teams (Butler & U. Conn) and their respective schools.